1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a snowboard boot with a highback support. More specifically, the present invention relates to a snowboard boot with a highback support that is easily adjustable.
2. Background Information
In recent years, snowboarding has become a very popular winter sport. In fact, snowboarding was also an Olympic event during the winter games at Nagano, Japan. Snowboarding is similar to skiing in that a rider rides down a snow covered hill. The snowboard is generally shaped as a small surfboard or a large skateboard without wheels. The snowboarder stands on the snowboard with his or her feet generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. Similar to skiing, the snowboarder wears special boots, which are fixedly secured to the snowboard by a binding mechanism. In other words, unlike skiing, the snowboarder has both feet securely attached to a single snowboard with one foot positioned in front of the other foot. The snowboarder stands with both feet on the snowboard in a direction generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. Moreover, unlike skiing, the snowboarder does not utilize poles.
Snowboarding is a sport that involves balance and control of movement. When steering on a downhill slope, the snowboarder leans in various directions in order to control the direction of the movement of the snowboard. Specifically, as the snowboarder leans, his or her movements must be transmitted from the boots worn by the rider to the snowboard in order to maintain control of the snowboard. For example, when a snowboarder leans backward, the movement causes the snowboard to tilt accordingly turning in the direction of the lean. Similarly, leaning forward causes the board to tilt in a corresponding manner and thus causing the snowboard to turn in that direction.
Generally, the sport may be divided into alpine and freestyle snowboarding. In alpine snowboarding, hard boots similar to those conventionally used for alpine skiing are worn, and fitted into so-called hard bindings mounted on the snowboard, which resemble alpine ski boot bindings. In freestyle snowboarding, soft boots similar to ordinary boots, or adaptations of such boots as distinct from hard shell alpine boots are typically worn, fitted into so-called soft bindings.
Boots that are used for, for instance, skiing and/or snowboarding must have a high degree of rigidity for effecting steering while skiing and snowboarding. In particular, when snowboarding it is important that the rider be able to lean to the side, back and forward with respect to the snowboard. The motion corresponding to the direction of the lean of the rider is transmitted through the boots to the snowboard (or skis) to effect turning or braking. Therefore, it is extremely important that the boots worn by the rider have sufficient rigidity to transfer such leaning motion to the snowboard or skis.
In particular, the back side of a snowboard boot must be rigid in order to provide the appropriate support for controlling movement of the snowboard. Further, as the art of snowboarding has developed, riders have found that snowboard boots provide optimal support when the back side of the snowboard boots are inclined slightly, such that the knees of the rider are always slightly bent when wearing the boots on level ground. Therefore, standing up straight with knees straight when wearing inclined snowboard boots is not always comfortable. Further, walking in such snowboard boots is sometimes awkward.
Recently, snowboard boots have been developed which allow a rider to adjust and change the inclination of inclined backside snowboard boots. For example, there are snowboard boots which include a member known as a highback support that is secured to the snowboard boot by pins which allow the highback support to pivot about the pins. The highback support extends up the back side of the boot and when locked into position fixes the back side of the boot into a predetermined inclined position that is optimal for snowboarding. When unlocked, the highback support can pivot back and allow the rider wearing the boot to stand up straight and walk more freely without having to keep the knees bent. A simple bar is used with such a boot for locking the highback support in place. Typically, the bar braces the highback support into position. An upper end of the bar is fixed to an upper portion of the highback support by a pivot pin. A lower end of the bar is configured to fit into a hook formed in a lower portion of the boot. When a rider is wearing the boots, the rider must lean forward in order to fit the bar into and out of position. The lean forward requires a significant amount of effort due to the overall rigidity of the snowboard boots and therefore the bar configuration, especially in the snow and cold, can be difficult for some riders to release and/or engage.
In view of the above, there exists a need for an improved highback system, which automatically moves from a walking position to a riding position when coupled to the binding. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
One object of the present invention is to provide a highback system that automatically moves from a walking position to a riding position when coupled to the binding.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a highback system that can be easily adjusted from a first leaning position to a second steeper leaning position without tools.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a highback support of a snowboard boot with an adjusting mechanism that is easy to manipulate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a highback support for a snowboard boot with a reliable adjusting mechanism for controlling the amount of lean by the highback support.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a snowboard boot is provided with an active highback system. The snowboard boot has a boot body with a sole portion, a toe portion, a heel portion and a leg portion. The leg portion is constructed of a flexible first material. The active highback system has a highback support movably coupled to the boot body to apply a bending force to the leg portion in a direction generally extending from the heel portion towards the toe portion. The active highback support includes a substantially rigid support member, a coupling member coupled to the support member and an adjusting mechanism. The support member engages the leg portion to apply the bending force to the leg portion. The coupling member is coupled to the support member and adapted to engage a complimentary coupling member that is separate from the snowboard boot to automatically move the support member to apply the bending force to the leg portion when engaged therewith. The adjusting mechanism is coupled between the support member and the leg portion to vary the bending force applied to the leg portion by the support member.
Preferably, an activating member is coupled to the binding and the support member is configured to be permanently fixed to a portion of a snowboard boot.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the present invention.